Wire-tying machine.



H. E. PITTS.

WIRE TYING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 4, I916.

Patented June 19, 1917.

3 SHEETS-SHEET I.

INVENTOR H. E. PITTS.

WIRE TYING MACHINE.

- APPLICATION FILED MAY 4, I916.

Patented June 19, 1917;

H. E. PITTS.

WIRE TYING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED MAY 4, 1916'.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

,2 4/ WITNESSES INVENTOI? WW I v /7 A TTORNEYS Patented June 19, 1917.

- dispose the twister head with respect tospeed in thetying operation.

HANOVER E. PITTS, OF SPRINGFIELD, OREGON.

WIEE-TYING MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented June 119, 1 .91%.-

Application filed Kay 4:, 1916, Serial 18o. 95,41.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HANovnn E. Prr'rs, a

citizen of the United States, and a resident the-following is a full, clear, and exact de-- scription.

My invention relates to a machine for tying bundles of lath, headings, shook staves, pickets, stakes, boxes, including. fruit boxes or shook crates, as Well as crate shook and other articles required to be tied with wire.

Objects of my invention are to provide a portable machine that may be readily shifted from place to 'place for the convenient tying operation; to provide a lightand strong construction; to provide a machine that may be easily operated; to provide against wastage of wire, and to promote More particular objects of the invention are to provide a rack or rest for the bundle, so formed as to dispose thebundle in the most advantageous position for tying; to provide a presser foot and twister head so mounted that the presser foot will properly the bundle; and to provide an efiicient slack take-up for the wire giving the same a turn about the bundle or other article being tied;

Other objects, as well as the advantages of my improved machine, will appear as the description proceeds.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification in which similar reference charactersindicat corresponding parts in all "the views.

Figure I is-a side elevation of a wire tying machine constructed in accordance with my invention;

Fig. 2' is a front elevation, the treadle bar and its lift springs being omitted;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary'longitudinal ver-' tical section on the line 33, Fig. 2;

Fig. 3 is a detail section plan view of the twister head, the section being taken on the line 3,-. Fig. 3; Fig. 4 is a sectional 4-4=,I Fig. 1;

Fig.6 is a detail transverse vertical section on the line 5{), Fig. 4;

plan view on the line Fig. ,6 is a perspective view of an aux-v iliary supportfor long bundles or boxes;

Fig. 7 is a horizontal section on the line I suitably strengthened with cross members,

braces, etc.

On the bench 10, at the rear, is provided a post 1 1, here shown as integral with the reair knee 12 and on said post at the front is sup ported a vertical guide rod 15,v the lower end of which is secured in brackets 17, and the upper end in a top bar 18.

A. carriage 16 is mounted at its rear end for sliding movement on the rod 15, there being shown brackets 16 on the carriage, slidably embracing the said rod.

The carriage 16 is reciprocated vertically by a treadle 19, fulcrumed at its rear end as at 20 on a suitable ,fixed member or the bench '10 and connected as at 21 with a 'treadle rod 22, which is secured to the carriage 16 by a pin 23, said pin being adapted to beinserted through a transverse pin hole in the carriage and in any one of a vertical series of holes 22' in said rod 22. I The rod 22 is connected with retractilesprings 24:,

' pn the 'top of the carriage 16. By employ-.

ing both weights-and springs for the carriage lift, I avoid the necessity of making either of undue power.

, Forks or'equivalent formationsBO are provided on the structure, here shown as formed on the upper ends of the braces 29.- Said forks form bearings for the wire spool 31 (see Fig. 8). Said spool is squared at one end as at 32 to receive a crank handle.

e minimum. The weight 25 is I One 110 flange 33 of the spool is fixed while the other flange 34 is slidable. In'practice, with a. large bundle of wire, the same is wound on the spool 31 by a handle (not shown), and in the case of a small bundle of wire, the flange 34 is removed and the bundle slipped onto the spool, the flange 34 being then replaced.

To engage the spool 31, a plate spring 35 is provided, secured at its rear end as at 36 to the bar 18 and formed at its free end with side flanges 37, adapted to bear against the flanges of the spool, whereby to exert friction on the spool to prevent too free unwinding of the wire A, and also, to con stitute a guard against thewire running over the flanges of the spool.

On the bench 10 is supported a rack 38 to support the bundle or box to be wired. The rack has a depressed top 39, the sides of which are at 90 so as to receive a bundle or box B, Fig. 3, in a manner that an angle thereof will be uppermost and be presented to the twister head 43, presently described.

Mounted to turn in brackets 44 on the'fronl. of the head stock 41 is a vertical spindle 42 carrying the tranverse twister head 43. On the spindle 42, above the upper bracket 44 and resting on the latter, is a bevel pinion 45 in mesh with a. bevel pinion 46 on a horizontal shaft 47 which is mounted in a suitable bearing 48 on a bracket 48, secured on the said head stock 41 at a side thereof. The shaft 47 has a suitable crank handle 49 for turning same. 7

In order that the headstock 41 may rock back and forth .in a vertical plane, on the carriage 16, said headstock is pivoted by a horizontal pin 50 between arms 51 on the carriage 16. At the upper end'the headstock 41 has guided movement between angle plates 52 secured to the carriage. A retrac tile spring. 53 is connected with the 'headstock at-the upper 'end,and with a staple 54,61- the like, on the carriage 16. By reason of the pivotal mounting of the headstock 41 the presser foot 40 will properly accommodate itself to the angular position of the box or bundle B and thereby properly position the. twisting head 43 with respect to the opposed angleof the said bundle or box.

The presser foot 40 is disposed transversely to its supporting shank 55 to come to a bearing agalnst the upper inclined end of the box or bundle B, and on the upper end of'the presser foot is a flange 56 to correspond with the upper angle of the box or bundle. The press'er foot 40 is offset laterally as at 57, as best seen in Fig. 2, to

afl'ord' ci'earanoe for the hand of the operator in passing the wire A about the box or bundle. In the rack 38 nd' supported on the sides thereof, are gua ds 58, one of A presser foot 40 is carried by a headstock 41 on the front of the carriage 16.

, the wire and said guards also serve for the guidin of the wire to a about t e bundle or box.

The twister head 43 has at one end thereof, a friction roller 60, between which and the opposed surface of the head, the wire A is passed. On the opposite end of the twister proper position head 43, that is to say, at the opposite side,

of the spindle 42, a wire clamping lever 61 is fulc'rumed by a pin 62 and is provided at its inner side with a small cam projection 63 to effect a tight clamping of the wire which might not result if too-broad a cam surface were employed. It will be observed from Fig. 3 that in the bottom plate 64 of the twister head 43, beneath the cam lever 61, a lateral notch or opening 65 is produced, the outer wall 66, of which, is curved so that in the twisting action when the spindle 42 is turned 'on its axis, the wire will be afforded clearance and guided movement while turning and twisting.

I provide a slack take-up in the form of a vertical slide 67, which has movement in upper and lower keepers 68 on the headstock 41. v tween forwardly extending cheeks 69 on the slide 67 and is adapted to clamp the wire A to said slide. A platespring 71 is'secured at its inner end between the cheeks 69 beneath a bearing pin 72. The slide 67' has guidedmovement between angle plates 73 secured to. the headstock 41 and at the lower end of the guide-way provided by the angle plates 73, a foot bracket 74 is provided on the said headstock to limit the downward movement of the slide 67. The cam lever is actuated by a handle 75 which .1s fulcrumed as at 76 within a keeper 77 on the carriage 16. A- cord or wire 78 is connected to a clevis 75 on the hand-lever 75 and extends over a sheave 79 on an upstrandlng arm 80 on the headstock 41, said cord being connected, as at 81, to the free end of the lever 70.

- To tie a bundle or box B, the wire A is passed from the spool 31 downward through the keepers 68 along the front of the slide A cam lever 70 is pivoted be- 67 and is then passed along the spindle 42,

the wire thus positioned about the bundle, a downward movement of the hand lever 75 will rock the lever 70 into gripping engagement with the wire A clamping the same against the face ofthe slide 67. The

continued downward movement of the letwist in the wire-as at-b, Fig. 3, whereupon the wire is manually severed by nippers. The nippers and like tools may be accommodated at the forward end of the bench order that the wire passing along the' spindle 42, may not unduly wear the adjacent-bracket 44, a collar 83 is provided on said spindle beneath said bracket and rests on a shoulder 84 on the spindle 42. As

seen in Fig. 4, alongitudinal slot 10 is formed in the bench 10 to accommodate'the treadle bar 22. A so, on the said bench at the sides, guide. ri. s 10 are provided, and between said ribs, the rack 38 is longitudinally slidable on the bench 10. The rack is held in adjusted position by a bolt 90 and wing nut 90". g

A gage 85 is provided on the rack 38 and has a foot 86 formed with a slot 87, through which the bolt 90 passes so that the said bolt serves to secure the gage in adjusted position in addition to holding the rack 38 in place. The gage 85 includes an upright member 88 at one side of the rack- 38, at the upper end of which is secured a board or plate 89 against which the box orbundle is placed. For smallbundles or boxes, the gage 85 will be adjusted to position the bundle with the wire A from the cross headcentrally of the bundle. In the case of long bundles requiring a wire near each end, the gage 85 is extended accordingly.

In order to support the ends of a long bundle I pibvide auxiliary supports 91,

which are formed of wire or like material, and are V-shaped or at 90 to'correspond with the depressed top 39. The said supports have horizontal arms 92 terminating in hooks 93 adapted to engage in eyes'94 on the sides of the rack 38. At the angle of each support 91 is pivoted a. leg 95 which;

is adapted to be swung inwardly to be ,re-

ceived in the slot 87 of the gage and to rest on the bench surface, whereby to sustain the. supports 91 in position. I

In Fig. 2 both supports 91 are set upin' position for use. In Fig. 4, one of said supports 91 (see top of said figure), is shown folded against the side of'the rack 38.

In order,to hang up the lever-.75 after, the bundle is tied, I provide a book 96 on said lever adapted to engage a reversed hook 97 on the bracket 98 secured to the headstock 41. This will insure that the lever is out of the way until another tying operation is to be performed.

I wish tostate in conclusion that although the illustrated example constitutes a practical embodiment of my invention, I do not limit myself strictly to the mechanical details herein illustrated, since manifestly the same can be considerably varied without departure from the spirit of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent: 1. A tying machine including a support having an angular seat to dispose the article to be tied in a tilted position and presenting an angle thereof uppermost, a presser foot .disposed at an angle to accord with the positioned article, means to operate the presser foot, a twister head mounted ad}- j acent to the presser foot, means to hold a ty;-

ing medium on the twister head, and means to actuate the twister head. 2. A tying machine including a revoluble twister head turning approximately in ahorizontal plane, and a support for the article to be tied, said support having a V- shaped seat positioned beneath the twister head and presenting front and rear sides at substantially a right angle to each other, so

disposed asto present the article angularly to the plane of revolution of the twister head, the front side of the seat being spaced from the said twister head to leave clearance for the entrance and removal of the said article.

3. Atying machine of the class described I including a revoluble twister head,-"a support for the article to be tied, said support having a seat presenting sides at an angle to present the article angularly to the plane of the revolution of the twister head,

means to hold the endsof a tying medium on Y the said head after being passed about the article,-a presser foot disposed at an angle to engage against a side of the angularly positioned article, and means to operate said presser foot,

4. A tymg'machine of the class describedincluding a"revoluble twister head, a support for the article to be tied, said support having a seat presenting sides at an angle to present the article angularly to the plane of e revolution of the twister head, means- 0 hold the ends of a. tying medium' on-the said head after being passed about the article, a presser foot disposed at an angle to engage against a side of the angularly positioned article, and means tooperate said presser foot, said presser foot having a flange to engage the positioned article at the angle presented to the twister head.

5. A tying machine of the class described including a revoluble twister head, a presser foot, and reciprocating means on which the presser foot is pivoted to rock toward and from the axis of rotation of the twisterhead to (itccommodate itself to thearticle being tie i 6. A tying machine of theclass described including a presser foot mounted to reciprocate to engage or disengage the article to be tied, and rockable transverse to the direction of its reciprocating movement, and tying means including a revoluble twister head, the said head being mounted to rock and to reciprocate with the said presser foot.

7. A tying machine of the. class described including a carriage, means to reciprocate the carriage, a presser foot on said carriage adapted to reciprocate therewith, means to support an article to be tied, in a position to be engaged-by the presser foot, and a twister head on said carriage adapted to reciprocate therewith and with the presser foot.

y 8. A tying machine of the class described including a presser foot mounted to recipro cate, meansto. supportanarticle to be tied, in position to be engaged by the presser foot, a twisting device adapted tohold the ends of a tying medium to twist the same after said medium*has been passed. about the article, means to take up slack in the tying medium after engagement of the latter by the twister, and means to actuate the'twister. 9. A tying machine of the class described,-

including a carriage mountedto reciprocate vertically, means below the carriage to hold the article to be tied, a presser foot reciprocating with said carriage toengage or disengage the article, ,a twister revolubly mount- -ed on the 'carriageand reciprocating therewith, and a slack take-up for thetying medium, said slack take-up being mounted on said carriage to reciprocate therewith and being movable onsaid carriage relatively to the twister,

10. In a tying machine of the class described, a support" for the article to be tied,

a presser foot, reciprocating means on which.

- the presser foot is pivoted to accommodate itself to the. article being tied, and spring means actingtlon said first means and yield. ing to pivota movement of the presser foot in accommodating itself to the article being tie 11. In a tying machine of the class de-. scribed, a twlster, a slack take-up, means coacting with the slack take-up to grip the tying medium, and manually operable means to move the slack take up relatively to the twister.

12. In a tying machine of the class described, a twister having means thereon to hold. a tying medium, a slide, means to grip the tying medium on said slide, and meansto actuate the slide.

13. In. a tying machine of the class described, a twisting device, means thereon to hold a tying medium, a slide, a cam lever adapted to grip the tying medium against said slide, and actuating means for the le a cam lever adapted to clamp the tying medium against the slide, a hand lever fulcrumed on a relatively fixed support, and a flexible element connecting the said hand lever with the cam lever, for throwing the same lnto gripping engagement and bodily moving the cam lever and slide.

. 15. In a tying machine of the class de scribed, a headstock, a twister revolubly mounted in the headstock, actuating means for the twister, and means on the twisterv for holding a tying medium, said last-mentioned means including a cam lever adapted to grip the free end of the tying me-' dlum.

16. In a tying machine of the class described, a headstock, a twister revolubly mounted on the headstock, a- .guide wheel on the headstock at one'side thereof forming a passage-way for the tying medium, and a cam lever atthe opposite side of the twister adapted to grip. the free end of the tying'medium.

17. In. a tying machine of the class de-. scribed, a vertically movable carriage, a

headstock rockably mounted on the carriage, spring means connecting the headstock with the carriage and tending to maintain the same in an approximately vertical position, and a presser'foot on said headstock and rockable therewith.

18. In a tying machine of the class described, a rack adapted to support an article to be tied, means above the rack for holding the article .in position on the rack, and means for securing a tying medium on the article, the said rack having spaced side members and extension guards at the inner faces of said sides.

19. In a tying machine of the class de-- scribed, a rack to support the article to be tied, a presser foot reciprocally mounted above the rack,.the said rack having separated sides, and guard extensions at the inner faces of said sides and spaced from each other, the said presser foot having an end thereof ofi'set laterally within the adjacent extension guard.

20. In a tying-machine of the class described, a rack adapted to support the article to be tied, a presser foot vertically reciprocating above the said rack, and extenheadstock, a cam lever adapted to sion supports on the rack at the outer faces of the sides of the rack.

21. In a tying machine of the class described, a rack adapted to support the article to be tied, a presser foot vertically reciprocating above the said rack, and exten sion supports on the rack at the outer faces of the sides of the rack, the said extension supports being pivoted to the rack to swing to a lowered position or to araised position constituting an extension of the rack.-

22. In a tying machine of the class described, a rack adapted to support the article to be tied, a presser foot vertically reciprocating above the said rack, and extension supports on the rack at the outer faces of the sides of the rack, the said extension supports being pivoted to the rack to swingto a lowered position or to a raised position constituting an extension of the rack; and legs pivotally connected with the said extension supports.

23. In a tying machine of the class described, a bench, a rack adapted to hold an article to be tied and adjustable longitudinally of said bench, and a gage having a member at one side of the rack, said gage being adjustable with the rack along the said bench and being movable transversely relatively to the said rack and bench.

24. In a tying machine of the class described, a bench, a frame above the bench,

means on said bench adapted to hold an article to be tied, a carriage mounted for-vertical movement in said frame to or from the bench, means on the carriage to hold the article to be tied, tying means, a treadle, a treadle bar connected with the treadle and carriage, retractile springs connected with said frame and with said treadle bar, a

weight, a flexible element connecting the weight with the carriage, and guide means for said flexible element.

25. In a tying machine of the class described including a bench, means on said bench to support an article to be tied, a carriage mounted for vertical movement to or from the bench, at headstock on said carriage, tying means on the headstock, and slack take-up means comprising a sllde on the clamp the tying medium against said slide, a hand lever fulcrumed on the carriage, a flexible element connecting said hand lever with the cam lever, a sheave on the headstock over which said flexible element runs, and cotake up means comprising a slide on the headstock, a cam lever adapted to clamp the tying medium against said slide, a hand lever fulcrumed on the carriage, a flexible element connecting said hand lever with the cam lever, a sheave on the headstock over which said flexible element runs, and co-acting hook members on the hand lever and on the headstock for hanging up said hand lever; together with a spring acting on the the opposite direction from a movement by the hand lever.

27. In a tying machine of the class described, a twister, a revoluble twister head, means for actuating the same, means at one side of the twister head to receive a tying -medium, and a cam lever at the opposite side of the head to grip said tying medium, the said twister head having an opening at the under side thereof below the cam lever, said opening presenting a curved wall.

28. In a tying machine of the class described, a twister including a vertical spindle, means to turn said spindle, a transverse head on the lower end of the spindle, a guide wheel at one side of said head, the spindle having a vertical slot at the side thereof adjacent to said wheel for passage of a tying medium, and a cam lever at the opposite side of the twister head from the said vertical slot.

29. In a tying machine of the class described, a vertical spindle, means for turning said spindle, supporting means presenting brackets on which the spindle has bearings, said spindle having vertical grooves for the passage of a tying medium, a collar surrounding the spindle adjacent to one of said bearings, and adapted to receive the wear of the tying medium, and means on the spindle at its lower end for holding a wire in a form to be twisted.

HANOVER E. PITTS. Witnesses:

L. M. BEEBE, F. L. TRAVIs.

cam leverand tending to move the same in 

